Little-Acorn
01-02-2008, 10:56 PM
http://www.ncpa.org
IN 2008, A 100 PERCENT CHANCE OF ALARM
Today's interpreters of the weather are what social scientists call
availability entrepreneurs: the activists, journalists and
publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking
for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil
fuels, says John Tierney in the New York Times.
For example:
* A year ago, British meteorologists made headlines predicting
that the buildup of greenhouse gases would help make 2007 the
hottest year on record.
* At year's end, even though the British scientists reported
the global temperature average was not a new record -- it was
actually lower than any year since 2001 -- the BBC confidently
proclaimed, "2007 Data Confirms Warming Trend."
Additionally:
* When the Arctic sea ice last year hit the lowest level ever
recorded by satellites, it was big news and heralded as a sign
that the whole planet was warming.
* When the Antarctic sea ice last year reached the highest
level ever recorded by satellites, it was pretty much ignored.
* A large part of Antarctica has been cooling recently, but
most coverage of that continent has focused on one small part
that has warmed.
Roger A. Pielke Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the
University of Colorado, recently noted the very different reception
received last year by two conflicting papers on the link between
hurricanes and global warming, says Tierney. He counted 79 news
articles about a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society, and only 3 news articles about one in a far more prestigious
journal, Nature.
It was, of course, the paper in the more obscure journal, which
suggested that global warming is creating more hurricanes. The
paper cited in Nature concluded that global warming has a minimal
effect on hurricanes. It was published in December, the same week that
Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize.
Source: John Tierney, "In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of
Alarm," New York Times, January 1, 2008.
For text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/science/01tier.html
IN 2008, A 100 PERCENT CHANCE OF ALARM
Today's interpreters of the weather are what social scientists call
availability entrepreneurs: the activists, journalists and
publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking
for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil
fuels, says John Tierney in the New York Times.
For example:
* A year ago, British meteorologists made headlines predicting
that the buildup of greenhouse gases would help make 2007 the
hottest year on record.
* At year's end, even though the British scientists reported
the global temperature average was not a new record -- it was
actually lower than any year since 2001 -- the BBC confidently
proclaimed, "2007 Data Confirms Warming Trend."
Additionally:
* When the Arctic sea ice last year hit the lowest level ever
recorded by satellites, it was big news and heralded as a sign
that the whole planet was warming.
* When the Antarctic sea ice last year reached the highest
level ever recorded by satellites, it was pretty much ignored.
* A large part of Antarctica has been cooling recently, but
most coverage of that continent has focused on one small part
that has warmed.
Roger A. Pielke Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the
University of Colorado, recently noted the very different reception
received last year by two conflicting papers on the link between
hurricanes and global warming, says Tierney. He counted 79 news
articles about a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society, and only 3 news articles about one in a far more prestigious
journal, Nature.
It was, of course, the paper in the more obscure journal, which
suggested that global warming is creating more hurricanes. The
paper cited in Nature concluded that global warming has a minimal
effect on hurricanes. It was published in December, the same week that
Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize.
Source: John Tierney, "In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of
Alarm," New York Times, January 1, 2008.
For text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/science/01tier.html